Continuous proliferation
Holes in the banks of the canals, which end up giving way as the weeks go by. “The nutria are increasingly putting at risk the already very delicate hydrogeological balance in the area of Bassa – is the alarm of Cia Padova – They make holes, their dens, very dangerous also for agricultural activities”. There are no official numbers, but in the area it is estimated that there are at least 200 thousand specimens. “They proliferate continuously, the issue is getting out of hand. This is a further problem that the Land Reclamation Consortia have to deal with: once they carried out ordinary maintenance work in order to re-section the embankments, now they are forced to intervene several times a year in the same place to repair the damage caused by the coypu. In practice, the Consortia work in a constant emergency regime”.
Sowing at risk
The situation is set to get worse in a couple of months, when farmers will carry out the first sowing of corn and soy, as explained by the president of the Cia Este-Montagnana area, Emilio Cappellari: “They are fond of these plants, they cause significant damage to agricultural plots”. In recent weeks, the Region has decided to increase investments “aimed at eradicating the species; in this regard, the 2025-2027 budget forecast has allocated 500 thousand euros per year to fight the nutria”. “The resources are there - observes the president of Cia Padova, Luca Trivellato -. Now, however, they must be used appropriately. All the implementing bodies indicated by the specific Regional Control Plan are required to cooperate fully to achieve the desired result, that is, the eradication of the specimens”.
Euganean Hills
“In any case - adds Trivellato - we strongly support the modification of law 157 of 1992, called Rules for the protection of wild fauna, given that it is now dated”. “In the current context, we need to go beyond the principle of protection to reach that of correct management of wild fauna itself”. “We will continue to keep attention high on the issue. Coypu, together with wild boars on the Hills, devastate crops, with very serious repercussions in terms of profitability for agricultural entrepreneurs”. “Between the increase in energy prices, agricultural raw materials and a limited profit, which is often lost along the supply chain - concludes the president - agriculture in Padua seems to be in check. The criticality of wild fauna really risks dealing a knockout blow to the sector: we ask the institutions for concrete support, the sector must not be abandoned to itself” (source: CIA Padova).
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